Even if you saw Wade Wilson’s first film adventure you are not prepared for the sequel. DEADPOOL 2 amps up the violence, the naughtiness, humor, the shade at rival franchises. DP 2 is heartbreaking, heartwarming and serves up X-Men characters I never thought I’d see on the big screen.
Mutants from multiple eras join Ryan Reynolds in the sequel as Deadpool is pitted against Cable (Josh Brolin) for the fate of the future. The trailers gave away who joins Wade’s X-Force but so many more mutants are in the movie. There’s always a difference between comics (a new Deadpool #1 issue is coming soon) and film.
Who’s who in the movie and are they in the comics? And could the real villain of the movie be someone we never even saw on screen?
Before we continue here’s a SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not seen DEADPOOL 2 yet (What are you waiting for? Go!) stop reading now.
Seriously.
OK.
Here it comes.
Cable
In this film Josh Brolin plays a cyborg mutant from the future who travels back to eliminate a young mutant named Firefist before he can kill for the first time. Firefist would begin a fiery carnage leading to the murder of Cable’s wife and daughter named Hope.
In the comics Cable first appears as a cyborg mercenary who turns the New Mutants into the first X-Force, a pro-active team taking on mutant enemies. We soon learn his name is Nathan Summers – as in the son of X-Men leader Scott Summers. Nathan is the child of Cyclops and Madelyn Pryor – a clone of Jean Grey. When the baby is infected with what’s termed a techno-organic virus, Scott lets Nathan be taken into the future by a mystery woman (Rachel Summers – Scott and Jean’s daughter) to be cured. Nathan grows up to lead a rebellion in the future world ruled by Apocalypse. Nathan is a mutant – a telekinetic – who uses his power to control the virus inside him.
Cable goes back in time to form a mercenary team including Domino and X-Force in order to stop the chain of events leading to Apocalypse’s reign. Cable doesn’t have a daughter in the future but a son named Tyler who becomes corrupted, follows his father into the past. Tyler masqueraded as the arms dealer Tolliver and hired Deadpool to take out X-Force. Tyler later goes by the code-name Genesis.
There is Hope – Hope Summers. After the mutant gene is erased, a baby is born with mutant powers – the first mutant born after the Decimation. To protect the messiah child, Cable takes the girl into the timestream and raises her as his daughter. Cable returns to the present with a now teen Hope, she has the power to ignite mutant powers and restarts the mutant race.
Firefist/Russell Collins
In the comics Firefist has the same mutant powers although he later just went by Rusty. After his powers got him in trouble with the law, he was found by X-Factor (the original X-Men) and later formed the X-Terminators with other rescued mutant teens and fought with the New Mutants. He was never a target of Cable’s revenge.
Juggernaut
Russell’s ally after the breakout is the Juggernaut (also seen in X-MEN: THE LAST STAND played by Vinnie Jones but that film’s events are not in continuity anymore thanks to X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST). In the new film the monstrous mutant in the helmet does refer to having a brother. In comics Juggernaut is Cain Marko, the stepbrother of Charles Xavier. Marko is not a mutant but was transformed into a human Juggernaut by touching a gem of the demonic entity Cyttorak. The helmet protects Juggernaut from psychic attacks – the only thing that can stop him.
Black Tom
The “leader” in the prison gang who goes after Wade and Russell is based on Black Tom Cassidy, a mutant who is a partner in crime with the Juggernaut. Tom is the cousin of Sean Cassidy aka the X-Man Banshee. Tom and Sean are both Irish but it’s not referenced in the movies.
Deadpool’s X-Force:
Domino
In the comics Domino does have a probability altering power aka good luck. Her real name is Neena Thurman and she’s a tough mercenary who first appears in Cable’s X-Force team – but not really. It was later revealed Domino was actually a spy – Vanessa Carlyle aka Copycat, a mutant shapeshifter and Deadpool’s girlfriend. The real Domino eventually joined Cable’s team. Domino has been romantically paired with Wolverine and Colossus. She’s currently starring in her own solo comic book for the first time.
Bedlam
Bedlam does have the electrical disruption powers in the comics. His real name was Jesse Aaronson and was a member of X-Force. Bedlam did a deal with Domino to find his missing brother who had become a villain.
Shatterstar
The warrior Shatterstar reveals he’s from a place called Mojoworld in the film. In comics, Shatterstar was a member of Cable’s first X-Force and a genetically engineered warrior from Mojoworld, an alien dimension obsessed with televised tournaments to the death. Shatterstar would later join X-Factor and fall in love with New Mutant Rictor.
Zeitgeist
Yes, there was a mutant who could vomit acid in one of the briefest versions of X-Force.
Vanisher
Now you never see him. Yes, that was Brad Pitt as the voice of the invisible recruit. Vanisher/Telford Porter actually first appeared as a villain way back in X-MEN #2. Vanisher later was a reluctant member of Wolverine’s X-Force squad.
Other characters:
Irene Merryweather is a television reporter in the film but a tabloid reporter in comics who becomes involved in Cable and Deadpool’s adventure. Nathan later shares his life story with her.
The real villain of the movie is….
The mystery man or woman behind Essex House!
Is it Mister Sinister? Stay with me here….
Domino and Russell were abused while staying at the Essex House for Mutant rehabilitation staffed by anti-mutant bigots who called them abominations.
This is the first Essex reference in the films. In the post-credits scenes for X-MEN APOCALYPSE mystery men take genetic samples including Wolverine’s from the Weapon X facility right after Logan’s escape. Those men worked the Essex Corporation.
Is the orphanage and corporation owned by Nathaniel Essex – better known as Mister Sinister. Essex was a Victorian England era scientist obsessed with Darwin’s theory of evolution to the extreme. Essex discovered Apocalypse as the evil mutant was emerging from hibernation. En Sabah Nur transformed Essex into the super powered villain he became. Sinister is obsessed with experimenting on mutants. He has a twisted fascination with the Summers and Grey family genetics. Sinister created Madelyn Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey, to fall in love, marry and have a child with Cyclops – the child became Cable.
DEADPOOL 2 packs a ton of X-Men comics canon. X-MEN DARK PHOENIX and NEW MUTANTS are up next in 2019. X-FORCE is in the works but will it bring back Wade, Cable and deliver on the Sinister promise?
By Editor